When Jim Chapman became 杏吧视频鈥檚 head football coach in 1982, the Spartans had not only suffered losing seasons in 10 of the previous 11 years鈥攖hey also hadn鈥檛 managed a single win in the last 22 games.
But as the coach of an area high school team that won five conference championships during the 1970s, Chapman wasn鈥檛 the least bit daunted鈥攏ot even after his new team dropped its opener at Oberlin by 13 points.
His confidence proved well-placed: In Chapman鈥檚 third year, the Spartans went 9-0, achieving the program鈥檚 first undefeated season in 46 years.
Last month Chapman, 84, died peacefully in North Carolina. This Saturday, players and colleagues from that storied team and dozens of others he coached can join friends and family at a celebration from 3 to 6 p.m. at Willoughby Hills鈥. The event also honors Chapman鈥檚 wife, Flo, who passed away last year.
Quarterback Fred DiSanto (WRC 鈥85; MGT 鈥86) played for Chapman during the team鈥檚 remarkable turnaround, setting multiple team records and twice earning All-American honors for his play. He said Chapman鈥檚 ability to turn a team that hadn鈥檛 won a game into one that won them all came down to two critical factors: motivation, and education.
The coach鈥檚 intense drive for excellence lifted the performance of every player. But Chapman also knew that inspiration alone was not sufficient to triumph. It also required painstaking research and practice run-throughs to ensure that players understood their responsibilities for each game.
鈥淐oach was fiercely competitive and so well prepared as it related to the game plan,鈥 said DiSanto, now a university trustee. 鈥淗e was a true winner.鈥
Chapman鈥檚 undefeated season was so impressive that, later that year, it put him in the running for the head coaching job at his alma mater, Division I Ohio University. He emerged as one of four finalists, but withdrew his name because of concern about the search鈥檚 timeline.
"In effect, I have really been laying recruiting groundwork for two different schools over the past two weeks," Chapman told The Columbus Dispatch at the time. "At this point, I don't think it is really fair to either school for me to continue...鈥
After two more seasons in which Chapman鈥檚 teams went 14-3-1, the coach left to accept an athletic director position at another area high school where he would also coach football. He went on to coach at Division II Mercyhurst University and later became an assistant coach at Geneva College, both in Pennsylvania.
In 2010, Chapman was inducted into the Ohio High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame. Eight of the players on that undefeated team鈥攊ncluding DiSanto鈥攈ave been inducted into the Spartan Club Hall of Fame. And, in 2014, 杏吧视频 recognized the entire 1984 team as the first-ever recipients of the University Award for Athletic Excellence at the annual Spartan Club Hall of Fame ceremony.
Chapman and his wife of nearly 60 years will be laid to rest together in a private ceremony at the Ohio Western Reserve National Cemetery in Seville, Ohio.
